Salata Hara ~ Arabic Spicy Tomato Dip

Many of us are fond of pickles, in some way or the other. I am not a pickle fan, though I have a little while eating biriyani. Hehe… If you buy rice from the Arab restaurants here, it comes with a runny and spicy tomato relish along with it. Since the rice is normally bland without much spices, this sauce gives it a nice kick. I never knew what it was called and thankfully, blogging has taught me its name.

“Salata Hara” literally means “hot salad”. But actually speaking from Indian tongue perspective, it isn’t really hot. It is mildly spiced but so flavorful that it can give a plain dish a much given boost. What more, it is no-cook! All you need to do is to blend all ingredients and store it up for the flavors to mingle. The main base of this relish is tomatoes, though there are other ways of making it as well, which are not very popular. I add paprika to my salata hara to give it a nice deep red shade.

Pour over your plain rice and dig in. Or you can drizzle these on your patties for an extra flavor. By the way, do not confuse this with another tomato based relish called “daqoos” – this has cooked tomato pureed, in almost the same way. Off to this breezer of a recipe…

That’s sounds like a light, refreshing, and healthy dip or chutney for summer! I’m certainly going to try this recipe out soon as a planted tomatoes in my garden.Bibi Maizoon recently posted…Of the People, By the People, For the People…